HORTON-IN-RIBBLESDALE search and rescue expert Andy Colau has rushed out to the island of Ibiza this week to help find a severely disabled man who has gone missing.

Mr Colau, who is one of the founders of the search and rescue organisation K-9, set off on Tuesday with one of his trained rescue dogs.

He will join Spanish police and army personnel who have been searching for a man with severe learning disabilities and epilepsy who went missing recently.

Jeffrey Hodgson, 38, of Stockport, has a mental age of eight and is thought to have wandered off as his parents were checking in to a hotel on the island.

Spanish military helicopters and divers are also taking part in the search.

K-9 Search and Rescue is a recognised charity set up in 1994. It has a team of volunteers who use trained dogs to locate people who are missing or trapped as a result of a structural collapse, air disaster, accident or crime, on both land and in water.

Mr Colau and his dogs have been involved in dozens of searches, including the air disaster at Lockerbie, and has worked with earthquake rescue teams in America, researching the best ways dogs can be used to find missing people quickly.

More recently, Mr Colau and his dogs were involved in the search for missing teenager Hannah Black, who was swept away down the River Ribble after a school trip to Stainforth's Stepping Stones.

As with any charity, K-9 is desperately in need of funds to support its work especially due its high costs.